A New Family, A New Life

Deep in a dark forest, overgrown with barren trees, an orange pegasus was hiding. An owl hooted in the distance in the cloudy sky. Thunder crashed as the orange filly trembled. Somepony - or something - was watching her. Hunting her.

The full moon hung in the sky, surrounded by clouds. For a moment, the face of a wicked-looking mare shrouded the view of the moon. Then it was gone, leaving nothing but the moons cratered surface in its wake. Hearing a rustling from a nearby bush, the filly darted from tree to tree, fearful of being caught.

Lightning flashed, and the silhouette of a unicorn was illuminated in the distance, standing proud and tall, horn to the heavens, with her mane flowing freely behind her. Scootaloo ran. She ran over dusty trails, past bushes and brambles, and down windy roads. She ran as if her life depended on it. As far as she knew, it did.

She ran until she was out of breath and could run no more, and then hid behind a large rock, shivering. She breathed a sigh of relief. She should finally be safe. Scootaloo surveyed the area. Nothing to her left, and nothing directly in front of her. And to her right...

A scowling magenta unicorn was leveling her horn.

With her violet and lavender mane, Scootaloo had no trouble recognising her. "Sparkler? What are you doing?"

"Just what I should have when I first met you." Eyes glowing, she opened her mouth to reveal a pair of fangs. "Fixing an unfortunate mistake."

"B-But you said we were sisters now!" Scootaloo said, standing up on all four hooves. "That we were family!"

"Hardly," she said with a toss of her head. "You're nothing. Just a discarded plaything."

"I'm more than that." Scootaloo stared at the fanged sister-creature in defiance. "I'm a real pony now. You'll see."

"Really now?" A younger white unicorn with a distinctive pink and purple mane stepped out from behind the fanged faux sister, an uncharacteristic look of hatred on her face. "You are just a puppet I created to play with. I have friends now. I don't need you any more."

She rubbed up against Sparkler affectionately, then glared at Scootaloo.

"You're not a real pony," Sparkler scoffed. "You are nothing but a magical accident, and a particularly embarrassing one at that. Sweetie, lets clean up this mess. Together."

They both started laughing, a particularly vile and malevolent laugh, and their horns began to glow, aimed straight for her. Scootaloo shrieked, and then-

She opened her eyes.

*****

It took a moment for Scootaloo to recognise where she was. Her heart was still racing away, and her nerves were on a hair trigger. She was in a dark room, filled with shadows. But there was a comfortable blanket and comforter over her, and a table to one side with a book she recognised as the one she'd fallen asleep to last night.

She could feel something large, warm, and fuzzy by her side. An occasional soft snore came from that direction.

Ditzy.

She snuggled up to her, feeling her chest move as Ditzy breathed. One of her wings instinctively curled around the young filly. Calming down, Scootaloo gradually drifted back to sleep.

*****

Much later, Scootaloo woke back up, and found herself tucked snugly under the covers. She yawned and stretched, hearing tiny pops coming from her bones as she did so. A beam of sunlight shining through the window lit up the room. Rubbing her eyes blearily, she looked around her.

She was all alone. Where had Ditzy gone? While Scootaloo had only met her yesterday, she'd already gotten fairly attached to her. Something just made her feel like she could trust her, and that she'd always be there when she needed her. It was very comforting. Scootaloo felt like she was starting to understand what a 'mother' was, and she liked it. But where was Ditzy now?

Scootaloo dived under the blankets, and scooted to the end of the bed. She poked her head out of the now crumpled covers, giving herself a better view of the doorway.  Mane sticking up in all directions and tail exposed behind her, Scootaloo watched the door, her ears perked up and at attention.

Listening closely, she could faintly hear noises coming from a few rooms away. She supposed she could go over and investigate, but that seemed like the more boring option. Setting up an ambush would be much more fun.

Scootaloo Daring Do, bold bounty hunter extraordinaire, crouched silently in the undergrowth. Her target was known to frequent this area, and had been sighted nearby. Time was on her side. She settled in to wait, making herself as comfortable as possible.

After a few minutes, she heard hoofsteps approaching the room. Her heart started to pound, and her tail twitched frantically back and forth. She crouched on her hindquarters, ready to spring into action. And... there!

As the gray pegasus entered the room, Scootaloo leapt. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ditzy rapidly push something to one side. Then the two of them tumbled through the air, head over tail, end to end. When they stopped, Ditzy was lying on her back, and Scootaloo was perched right on top of her chest, smiling.

"Ditzy!" The orange pegasus greeted her excitedly, and wrapped her forelegs around her in a big hug.

"Um, hello?" Ditzy took a few deep breaths. "Good morning, Scootaloo. You seem... Oof... awfully enthusiastic today."

"I woke up, and you weren't there so I decided to hunt for you then I heard some noises and I thought it might be you coming back so I set up an ambush and I caught you!" Scootaloo said, all in a single breath.

Ditzy's face had an odd expression that seemed somewhere between exasperation and amusement.

"I left to go get the two of us breakfast." She glanced at the desk next to her, which now had a tray sitting on it. "Fortunately, I managed to set the tray down before you jumped me, or you would have been covered in milk."

Scootaloo looked, and sure enough, there were plates with breakfast laid out on the tray. In retrospect, she supposed she should have checked whether Ditzy was carrying anything before leaping on her.

"Oh," she said blankly, ears drooping slightly. "Sorry."

"That's alright." Ditzy rubbed Scootaloo's mane.  "Let's go in the living room and get something to eat. If you'll let me up, at least."

Why does everypony always mess with my hair? Scootaloo thought irritably. She let go of Ditzy's neck, and jumped down off of her chest. She watched as Ditzy got back up on her hooves, took the tray, and started slowly walking over to the living room.

Unable to contain herself, the orange pegasus scampered past her in the hallway. She dashed over to the table, and then sat down on a cushion.

Once Ditzy caught up, she put the tray down, and started setting out places. Grabbing some napkins, she mopped up some spilled milk, and unfolded a napkin under Scootaloo's place, just like she had the previous night.

"So we're having, er... Bread and fruit for breakfast?" Scootaloo asked.

"This is actually pumpkin zucchini bread, and I've got some apple butter here to spread on it as well," Ditzy said. "It was hot. It should at least still be warm."

Indeed, looking closely at her slices of bread, Scootaloo could see other things in it, too, such as grated carrot, raisins, and walnuts. Scarfing down half a piece, it was absolutely delicious.

"So," Ditzy said, after eating part of a slice herself with considerably more delicacy. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Um..." She hadn't. There'd been that weird dream that had been rather frightening, actually. But she was supposed to be tough. Bold. Adventurous. Like Daring Do. Would Daring Do tell somepony else if she had a bad dream? She bit her lip.

"Um? That sounds like a yes to me." Ditzy said. "You know, you've been through a lot recently. It's completely understandable if you had a nightmare."

Was it? "Well..."

"I promise I won't tell anypony else about your dream. Honest," Ditzy swore. "And it usually helps to tell somepony about these things."

"Well," she said reluctantly. "I had sorta a weird dream that was kinda scary, but once I went back to sleep, I slept pretty well."

"What kind of a bad dream did you have?" Ditzy asked gently. Scootaloo gradually told her about what had happened in her dream. Ditzy prompted her anytime she started to hesitate.

"I suppose I can see why Sparkler was chasing me," Scootaloo said. "but why was Sweetie Belle there? She's my best friend!"

"She was your best friend when you were imaginary," Ditzy said. "It sounds like you were worried about things changing with her now that you are real."

"Maybe..." Scootaloo said reluctantly.

"Don't worry too much about it," Ditzy said. "She seemed pretty attached to you yesterday."

"Yeah, but that was yesterday." Scootaloo gulped down her milk. "I won't even be able to see her today due to that magical exaltation thing."

"You mean 'exhaustion,' and not necessarily." Ditzy finished off her last slice. "I thought we could stop by her parents house and check up on her today. Assuming you know where she lives, of course."

"I may not know much, but if there's one thing I know," Scootaloo said confidently. "It's where Sweetie Belle lives."

Scootaloo's serious look during this statement was totally ruined by the milk mustache now adorning her face. Ditzy laughed, and quickly dabbed it off with a napkin.

*****

"Alright, Scoots," Ditzy called out tiredly, for what must have been the millionth time. "Does anything seem familiar now?"

Scootaloo craned her neck in either direction, looking around for anything familiar. "Nope."

"Didn't you say you know right where Sweetie Belle's parents live?" Ditzy asked.

"I do! I've been there a million times!" Scootaloo said defensively. Then her shoulders slumped. "I don't much know where anything else is, though."

Ditzy sighed. "Well, I'm afraid I don't know the way there, either."

"So we'll just have to go home then?" Scootaloo said, a quiver in her voice. "I can't visit Sweetie Belle?"

"Actually..." Ditzy suddenly smiled. "You remember how to get to the pond from her home, right?"

"Sure," Scootaloo said, "Sweetie Belle goes there all the time."

"Well, I do know how to get to the pond from here," Ditzy said. "Why don't we backtrack from there?"

*****

After that minor debacle, they located Sweetie Belle's home without too much difficulty. Her house was small and squat, sandwiched between two others. It was painted green, but the paint was faded and peeling, with frilly white curtains, and a wooden shed off to one side.

Scootaloo grinned, and started walking straight towards the door, only to be yanked back by the scruff of her neck. She turned around and glared at Ditzy. "What was that for?"

"You can't just go walking straight into somepony's home!" Ditzy said, trying to get strands of orange fur out of her mouth, not for the first time.

"Why not? I've been there-"

"You haven't been in there before. Not that Sweetie Belle's parents would remember, anyways," Ditzy said. "Here, we'll claim that you're one of Sweetie Belle's friends they haven't met, and that we were planning on going out to the park with her today. Otherwise, just follow my lead."

"Fine." Scootaloo sighed and rubbed the back of her much abused neck. "Whatever."

Ditzy walked up and knocked on the door, Scootaloo trailing behind her. After a few minutes without a response, she knocked again. The door opened, and a mustache wearing a loud shirt and straw hat with a stallion somewhere behind it peered out.

"Hello? Can I help you?" Looking Ditzy over, his eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, you're one of the mail mares around town. Derpy, wasn't it? Did you have a letter for me?"

"No letters today, I'm afraid." Ditzy stepped slightly to the side, so that Scootaloo was clearly visible. "You're Sweetie Belle's father, aren't you? Scootaloo here had been planning on playing with her in the park today, and I thought it'd be better if we stopped by here first."

"You are friends of Sweetie Belle's? Wonderful!" he said. "Unfortunately, she's not feeling that good today, so she won't be able to come out and play. But I'm sure she'd appreciate some company."

He gestured towards the door. "Why don't you both come inside. Derpy? Scootadoo?"

"Thank you," Ditzy said. Scootaloo wondered if the vein in her forehead was supposed to be pulsating like that. "And it's Ditzy and Scootaloo."

"Sorry, never been the best with names." He laughed. "Come on in!"

They entered, and, if anything, the house seemed smaller on the inside then the outside. In large part, this was due to the enormous amount of clutter lining every wall, most of which seemed to be souvenirs from one location or another.

There was a small statuette of Princess Celestia, which was inexplicably colored pink, a huge stuffed pig, which wasn't, a golden apple plaque from Manehattan, a set of opera glasses and booklets framed on the wall, and myriads of other things. What wasn't particularly evident was good taste.

"Sorry about all the clutter," The stallion waved at all the junk stacked around. "We've outgrown this house, really. We've been thinking about moving, but who has time? I'm Magnum, by the way."

He extended one hoof, Ditzy cautiously accepted it with one of her own, and found her foreleg being pumped vigorously.

"Um, charmed."

"Glad to meet you! Any friend of Sweetie Belle's is a friend of mine," Magnum said. "I'd introduce you to the wife, but she's out shopping. Something about running out of chocolate. Tell me, do you enjoy fishing?"

Scootaloo noticed that the vein in Ditzy's forehead seemed to be pulsating even more. Then she was distracted by a shelf with a collection of Diamond Dog dolls with big poofy hair and eyes that seemed to bore into the depths of your soul. She shivered.

"Can't say I've really had the pleasure." He still seemed intent on shaking her foreleg vigorously. She steered the subject back on course. "You said Sweetie Belle isn't feeling well?"

"Shame. Shame." Then he seemed to take notice of what she'd been saying. "Oh, yes, Sweetie Belle. When she came home last night, she was so tired she fell asleep right on the floor. We were worried, so we called Nurse Coldheart over. The nurse said that she had exhausted her magic, and put her on bedrest for the next week."

"So that's why Pearl is out getting chocolate, then?"

"Nah," he waved a foreleg dismissively. "She just always likes to have lots of chocolate on hand."

"Oh." Ditzy massaged her foreleg. "I'd assumed it was because chocolate helps with recovery from magical exhaustion."

"That too, I'm sure."

"Can we go see Sweetie Belle now?" Scootaloo interjected, not really feeling like having this conversation go on much longer. Grownups were so boring.

"Sure! Glad to see Sweetie Belle making some friends." He pointed towards a door with three diamonds carved into it. "Her room is right over there. Oh, and Derpy, if your daughter and Sweetie Belle are good friends, maybe we can talk about having her go over to your house occasionally once she's better."

"Let's do that."

Ditzy and Scootaloo walked over to the door he'd indicated. As they approached, they heard a voice from the other side.

"I'm soooo bored!"

Scootaloo held up a foreleg.

"I believe that's my cue."

She opened the door, Ditzy following behind her. The room looked much the same as when she was there last, except that Sweetie Belle was now lying stretched out on the bed facing the wall, awake, and she was clearly not taking to bedrest well. A closet was behind the bed, with a large wicker basket lined with a blanket laying on the top shelf.

"Well, if you're that bored, I'm sure we can come up with something to do together," Scootaloo called out as she entered.

"Yeah, but I'm supposed to stay in bed. And I don't feel like I'm up to going anywhere anyways, which sucks because I'm wide awake with nothing to do." Then she did a double-take. "Wait... Scootaloo?"

She turned and bounded off the bed. She started to run over, but her legs collapsed under her, and she was left lying there panting for breath. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, had no such problem, and ran over to her at a quick clip with Ditzy by her side.

Ditzy helped Sweetie Belle off the floor, who quickly wrapped herself around Scootaloo. The orange pegasus seemed equal parts pleased and embarrassed, but returned the hug.

"I didn't know how to let you know that I wasn't feeling well enough to meet you in the park, then I realised that I didn't know where Ditzy lived and mom had no idea either and dad was no help as usual and I swear all he ever does is sit there and fish or talk about fishing and then you showed up anyways!" Sweetie Belle said, squeezing her friend vigorously as she spoke.

"I'm- urg- happy to see you too, Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo gasped. "Or I w-would be if I c-could breathe..."

"Oh... Sorry." Sweetie Belle loosened her death grip slightly. "So..."

The two of them looked awkwardly at each other for a moment, then Ditzy cut in. "First off, why don't the three of us go somewhere that's more comfortable than the floor? Sweetie Belle, your bed looks large enough for all of us to sit on comfortably."

Indeed, her bed was huge, considering the small room it was in.

"Er, yeah. It used to be my sister Rarity's." She tried to hop up to the bed, fumbled, and nearly fell. Ditzy caught her, and helped her back up. "In fact, this whole room was Rarity's, before she moved out."

"Really?" Ditzy said. "Where did you sleep before that?"

"Well, in here, actually." She admitted, looking down. "I think that's one of the reasons she was so eager to move out."

Scootaloo saw Ditzy wince, and glance at the closet, though she wasn't quite sure just why. Still, that did sound rather cramped. Then a thought from yesterday flitted back across her mind, and this time she was able to pursue it.

"Um, Sweetie Belle, I didn't have a name yet last time we met," Scootaloo stated. "But you called me Scootaloo when I came in. How did you know I'd decided on that for my name?"

Sweetie Belle's face went blank, and she just stared, dumbfounded, for a few minutes. "I- I- Didn't you tell me... No, you couldn't have... Scoots to Scootaloo makes sense, but... Um... I'm not sure... When did you pick it out?"

"Yesterday evening, after going to Dit- going home," Scootaloo said. "Though I wasn't sure about my full name till that night."

"I think I would have been asleep by then," Sweetie Belle mused. "I'm just so used to knowing everything about you that I didn't think about it."

"Do you know what my full name is?" Scootaloo asked curiously.

"Let me think." She closed her eyes for a minute. "Scootaloo... Doo?"

"Yeah, that part's right." Scootaloo smiled. "What's my middle name, though?"

"I- I have no idea," Sweetie Belle said, surprised.

"You've decided on a middle name?" Ditzy said, almost making Scootaloo jump. She'd just about forgotten Ditzy was in the room with them.

"Yeah, but... I'd like to keep it to myself for a while." Having realised that she knew something nopony else did, she thought she'd hang on to it for the moment.

"That's fine," Ditzy said. "I'll need it once we have official adoption paperwork, though."

"I'll give it to you when you need it," Scootaloo promised.

"Just make sure I have it by then, or I may have to pick something out myself," Ditzy said. "Scootaloo Dashiell Doo?"

That wouldn't be too bad, but... "I will."

"Unfortunately, we can't really do anything that involves going outside or even much exercise right now," Ditzy said.

"Yeah." Sweetie Belle hung her head. "No trekking back out to the pond, or going to Sugarcube Corner, going exploring. Or anything fun, really. I don't even have much in the way of games we could play here that I'm not too tired for. This sucks."

"Well, you know, I could read both of you a story." Ditzy pulled an old book out of her saddlebags.

"Well," Sweetie Belle said a bit reluctantly.  "as long as it's an interesting story..."

"It should be," Ditzy assured her. She opened the book and began reading.

A long time ago in a place far away, there was a king who was well loved by all of his subjects. Yet all things must come to an end, and eventually he passed away, leaving behind his two sons. The two brothers were very close, and soon agreed that the younger would become the new king, and the eldest would become his Grand Vizier, and advise him in all things.

So matters stood, and they ruled the kingdom well together for a time. The king had married, and had a wife he loved beyond anything, and would give anything she wanted. A few years into the marriage, however, he discovered she didn't return his love. She had been weaving a terrible web of deceit, and had done any number of wicked things behind his back.

The only punishment for some of the things she had done was death, and she was executed shortly thereafter. Yet by the laws of that land, the king must have a wife, and he was required to remarry.

In his grief, something had snapped in mind, though, and he now felt all mares were inherently untrustworthy. He remarried, but had his new wife executed the next day. And he continued with this every day, picking out a new wife, and having her killed on suspicion the day afterwards. His subjects were horrified, but he was the king.

Another pony who was horrified was Scheherazade, one of the viziers two daughters. However, she had always been very clever and brave, and she came up with a plan to stop this senseless slaughter. The first step was becoming the kings next bride, which, as you can imagine, took some persuading on her part with her father. After that, she needed to get ready for some storytelling...

*****

Scootaloo looked up as Ditzy finished telling yet another one of Scheherazade's intricate tales designed to save her life. Though she was still a bit hazy on why no one just offed the king if he had been going around marrying and killing all the mares in town.

A sudden noise startled her. She suddenly realised Ditzy had closed her book after inserting a bookmark to save her place. She immediately began to protest. "Why did you stop?"

Ditzy simply pointed. Looking in that direction, Scootaloo saw Sweetie Belle gently sleeping, head resting on one foreleg, an occasional snore coming from her direction. "We can always continue where we left off another time. Besides, it's getting close to time for us to pick up Dinky."

Scootaloo wanted to protest, but if Sweetie Belle was sleeping anyways, she didn't see the point. She jumped lightly down from the edge of the bed, and the two of them crept out of the room.

After closing the door to her room gently, they almost ran into a pink unicorn, mane done up in a purple bouffant. She was carrying a large basket of chocolate. Seeing them, she turned to face Ditzy. "Would this be a good time for me to go drop this off in Sweetie Belle's room? I know the two of you have been busy visiting..."

Ditzy smiled. "She's just gone to sleep, so perhap you could drop them off a little later."

"Oh, good." She extended a hoof. "I'm Pearl, Sweetie Belle's mother."

"Ditzy." She cautiously shook hooves with Pearl, no doubt remembering the trauma of Magnum’s hoofshake, but Pearl's, by contrast, was a delicate thing. "Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. I was glad to hear Sweetie Belle had some friends over for once. And you and your daughter–" Pearl trailed off with a questioning tone.

"Scootaloo," Ditzy filled in.

"–Scootaloo must be close friends given how long you were visiting. Will you be able to stop by again later in the week?" Pearl asked.

"I'll try to make time for it, assuming my youngest daughter, Dinky, leaves me any," Ditzy said.

"Oh dear, I know that feeling," Pearl said. "Are Dinky and–" she nodded towards the door. "–friends as well?"

"They've barely met, to my knowledge, though hopefully that'll change. I really have to get going to pick her up, though."

"No problem, I wouldn't want to detain you." Pearl delicately opened Sweetie Belles door a crack. "Stop by again later this week, and when Sweetie Belle's feeling better, we can see about having her visit your place in return."

"We'll be sure to." Ditzy and Scootaloo exited the house, and started on their way to the Ponyville train station.

*****

Waiting for the train to arrive, Scootaloo found herself on edge. In the last day or so, she'd gotten used to having Ditzy to herself, but it'd always been obvious that Dinky was important to her.Once Dinky was back, would she be pushed off to the side?

And what about Dinky herself? Would Dinky like her? Would Dinky be willing to be her sister, or more importantly, her friend? Would she even actually like Dinky? All these thoughts were whirling around her head when she felt a foreleg resting on her side, steadying her.

"You alright there, Scoots?" Ditzy asked, concern in her voice.

"Yeah," Scootaloo said. "Just nervous."

Ditzy frowned, and looked over at her. "What are you so nervous about?"

"Stuff." Going into all her worries seemed kinda silly, really.

"I'm sure you and Dinky will get along just fine, Scoots," Ditzy assured her.

Yeah, but what if they didn't? Did Sparkler and Dinky really have room for another sister in their life? She looked down. "'kay."

Ditzy didn't look particularly convinced she was telling the truth, but dropped the subject, and after rubbing her back for a few minutes, let her go. Shortly thereafter, the train pulled in, and all the ponies onboard started disembarking.

First, a chestnut-colored stallion with a reddish-brown waistcoat, fedora, and curly hair got off, waved jauntily at Ditzy, then headed off. Next was a jasmine pegasus with a turquoise mane and three drops on her flank came by. And last, a blur of lavender-grey barrelled off the train, and immediately headed on a collision course with Ditzy, nearly knocking her over.

"MommyMommyMommy!" A hyperactive young unicorn with mane matching Ditzy's own jumped up on her and wrapped her in a surprisingly big hug. "I'vemissedyousomuch! Daddywasfunbuthedidn'fhaveblueberrymuffinsandMrFlibbleandtheteadidn'ttastelikeyoursandI'mhappytobehome!"

"Easy now," a bemused sounding Ditzy said. "I'm happy to see you too, but you're going so fast I can barely understand you. Have you had anything to eat yet?"

"Daddygave mesome cakeand icecream and rootbeerand chokolatenlots ofyummy stuffbeforeI left!" Dinky declared. She suddenly noticed Scootaloo standing to one side, watching all this with no idea how to react. "Who's that, mommy?"

Scootaloo thought she heard Ditzy mutter something about a sugar overload before replying, but wasn't sure she'd heard right. Too much sugar couldn't be bad, could it? As Dinky and Ditzy's eyes turned to her, she started shaking slightly again.

"Dinky, this is Scootaloo," Ditzy freed one foreleg from her clutches, and pointed at the orange pegasus. "She's going to be coming to live with us."

Dinky hopped down from her embrace with Ditzy, and walked over to inspect Scootaloo. She approached hesitantly, and began circling around her, sniffing at the air, and looking her over. Not to be outdone, Scootaloo started circling around Dinky herself and checking her out head to tail.

The detente was broken when Dinky suddenly closed the gap between them, reached out with a foreleg, and pushed against Scootaloo's nose with one hoof.

"Boop!" she exclaimed, and leapt away.

At this point, Scootaloo was feeling much put upon, and jumped at the other filly, who giggled and dodged her. This quickly degenerated into a full-blown scuffle between the two of them, with first one on the top then the other, until when the dust cleared, Scootaloo was standing on top of the unicorn filly.

She triumphantly pushed the end of Dinky's nose with her hoof. "Boop!"  Wait, what just happened? Scootaloo sheepishly got down off the other filly, who sprung back on her hooves as if nothing odd had occurred.

"If you've gotten that out of your system now," Ditzy sardonically remarked. "you may have had something to eat, muffin, but neither of us has. Let's grab something to eat."

Dinky fished a small bag out of her saddlebags, and offered it to Scootaloo. "Jelly baby?"

Shrugging, Scootaloo accepted the proffered treat and implied truce, and they followed Ditzy as she headed towards Sugarcube Corner.